A tale of Greed and Destiny
by dragonite99
Summary: This is the tale of a boy and his Pokemon, and their journey across the Pokemon world. They will make a few friends, both Pokemon and human, win a few battles, and along the way discover how cursed an existence they are forced to live. This is a tale fo growth, friendship and the severity of loss. This is a tale of greed and destiny. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prolugue

_Green._

That was the first thing I saw when I woke up, green all around me. Further inspection showed that I was in a container of some sort, cylindrical in shape. The bubbles rising from the base of the container, showed that the _green_ was actually liquid. It was at that moment that I decided I hated cages and all forms of containment, because the limiting was unacceptable to me.

My vision was still blurry, but I knew there things there. Things beyond my cage. I could _feel_ them. Through the liquid, the vibrations reach me, the vibrations of people talking. I somehow know it is sound, and I wonder where this knowledge comes from.

At first, I couldn't make out the words, it was all dimmed by the liquid. But as I continued to listen, it became clearer, and I was able to hear voices for the first time. The beginning of the conversation was lost to me, but I planned on listening through to the end.

 _"... -ul isn't she?"_ a voice asks. It was a tired sounding voice, showing signs stress and sleep deprivation. Though from what I could get from the undertones, there was pride in the person's voice. It seemed to be directed at me, but I had no idea why. Again, I wonder how I am able to deduce these things, and where this knowledge comes from. _"After all this time."_ the voice continues "my _hard work has finally paid off..."_ it trails of in what seems like a long and loud exhale. A yawn.

 _"Don't be like that professor"_ another voice, this one deeper, and more chipper, says to the first. _"After all I helped sponsor this project,_ and _aided in the lab work, along with your workers."_ there is a pause before I hear the voice again. _"Though, I can't argue. She is beautiful."_ From what I can hear, this voice seems to be proud as well. I still have no idea why, but I began coming to terms with the knowledge.

When they go quiet and continue to just stare at me through the glass wall of my cage, I guessed the conversation was over. With nothing left to do, I began examining myself. Abandoning my still blurry vision, I closed my eyes and felt for my body. It was normal, though unresponsive, with four limbs and a weight of some sort connected the back of my skull. I felt for my nose, as somehow, even as the liquid entered it, it still remained functional. No scents were within the cylinder, so I quickly grow bored with that.

Once I discovered my ears were functional as well, I quickly tried to listen beyond the glass walls of my container. I first heard the breaths of those in front of the cylinder, the heartbeats, the blood flowing through their veins. I went further. The next sounds to assault my ears, were whirring noises, clicks and beeps. My _feel_ told me these things are not alive. Though they interested me, entities that existed only to be used. For a moment, I listened to their chorus. Though, I eventually grew bored of that too.

As I continued to expand my field of awareness, one of the voices, the deeper one, spoke again. "What is she doing now?" it asks. I opened my eyes slightly upon hearing the voice, and vision no longer seemed to be blurry, so I opened them fully.

Two glowing orbs peered into mine. The owner of the second voice, he is... powerful. They both are, but him even more so. His golden eyes look directly into mine, and I find myself frozen. Frozen in the gaze of something the greater than me. There are other beings in the as well. Some with _feels_ closer to the man and the woman, and others with _feels_ closer to mine. Though only the woman comes close to the man in that regard. I didn't even notice when I started referring to them by gender.

He seems to somehow notice my thoughts, as I can see him smirk through the glass walls of my container. "She's learning." the woman replies, but I ignored her, choosing instead to study the man. He has droopy jet black hair, and glowing golden eyes. He seemed to be wearing some sort of formal attire which I later found out was a suit. It was how he carried himself however, that was the most surprising thing about him. The man didn't carry himself like he was superior,instead it was like he was trying too hard trying make himself appear at our level. The woman was the same in that regard as well.

Speaking of the woman, I shifted my gaze to her next. She wore dark green on her torso and black around her legs, to her thighs to be more precise. All of this was under a long white coat. She had messy shoulder length brown hair and half-lidded green eyes. Overall she looked extremely tired and lazy. I also managed to catch a glimpse of a jeweled bracelet on her wrist. The man seemed to have one on as well.

"We'll let her into the fields at noon." the woman continues, picking something up from the raised platform beside her. It seemed to be clipboard of some sort. "For now, she rests." The man doesn't say anything, simply smiling as she taps somethings on the clipboard, which seemed to be digital.

Yellow began to rise from the base of my cage, and when it reached me, my eyelids began to feel heavy. As the new liquid fills my container, I hear the man's voice once more before sleep claims me."Sleep well, kid" he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice."There's so much of the world for you to see."

As he says that, my area of awareness closes, and fall asleep to the chorus of the servant entities.


	2. Chapter 1

When fifteen year old Jaxen Green looks at his reflection in the mirror, only one word comes to mind. Odd. His hair is a normal black color and his face is pretty normal as well. His eyes, however, are the oddities. The left one being silver and the right one blue. One color from each parent.

With a sigh, he looks away from his reflection and moves away from the bathroom sink. He enters his room (which is actually an understatement, considering it the size of a large apartment) and moves to the closet. His parents only got him the best of everything. They actually built a facility on their property, for his private schooling. He was taught by professors and had the best equipment at his disposal. He may be a rich kid, but at least he isn't a stupid rich kid. His parent's made sure of that.

As you may have already guessed, Jaxen is a "rich kid." His parent's both being heads of their respective industries (he's still surprised they never merged the companies), and also being leaders of their respective gyms in their hometowns. Of course this also meant that they were almost never home, but they had contingencies.

Jaxen enters the mansion's kitchen, now wearing a long sleeved blue hooded jacket, with white stripes on the sleeves, over a black shirt with black cargo pants and armor-toed boots."Hey, Gloria." He greets, taking a seat on one of the luxurious looking chairs surrounding the dining table.

 _'Good morning, Master Jaxen'_ comes the telepathic reply form the Pokemon preparing his breakfast, even though he could cook himself. A black humanoid standing at about four feet in height with thin arms and legs, two buns on either side of its head, with two white bows on each bun and two bows along its body, which flares out at the bottom to form a skirt shape. It has a purple face, with red lips and blue eyes. The pokemon is a gothirita, and one of his parents contingencies.

Seeing as they couldn't be there to take care of him all the time, they to some of their most loyal pokemon do it. His dad using his lucario, Cylad, and his mum using her flygon, Avarice. But as both were still gym pokemon and had to leave the house from time to time, his aunt decided to pitch in as well. She comes to visit him when she can, but she has her responsibilities as well, so she trained Gloria to take care of in their stead. Even though she is a battle pokemon as well.

The gothirita drops a plate of syrup covered pancakes in front of him, using telekinesis. "Could you please stop calling me that? Just Jaxen is fine" He requests,even though he knows she would neither answer him nor agree. Skewering three pancakes on his fork, Jaxen takes a bite, and moans at the taste. He always found it odd that gloria was a better cook than him, since she doesn't eat most of the things she cooks. He's actually never seen her eating, at least not in his presence.

Jaxen glances at the gothirita, standing with hands clasped in front of her, at his side. She usually doesn't 'talk' much outside of the usual greetings and the very few questions he asks that she actually answers. She's always been extremely professional, even around his parent's pokemon, when ever they're present. He would think she didn't like him, if he didn't that were not the case.

So, with a shrug, Jaxen returns back to his breakfast. He has a long day ahead of him, best to keep his energy up. He idly wonders what his first pokemon would be. His parents told him they picked one out, but never said what it was. 'I'm gonna find out today anyway.' he thinks stuffing his mouth with more pancakes.. He again moans at the taste, missing gloria roll her eyes.

* * *

The chirping of the bird pokemon signal the start of my day. They're not the best of alarms, but they get the job done, even though they never seem to wake up mother. With a nearly silent yawn, I sit up and move from my white furred pillow and towards the entrance of our cave den. I breathe in the fresh early morning air, and scan the area for predators of intruders. Seeing none, I glance at mother to ensure she is still sleeping, and weigh the pros and cons of running away to explore the forest before she wakes up.

I would be found of course. I've never been successfully able to hide from mother, but she seems to be able mask her signature from my _feel_. Still, I barely ever get out without super vision and I'm pretty sure I could take on anyone who might attack me. Mother made sure of that after she found me four months ago.

When I woke up in that lab the second time, the gold eyed man and the lazy woman were gone. Soon after, the other humans me a forested area they called 'the fields', where a houndoom tried to eat me for lunch. The only reason I'm still alive is because mother decided to take pity on the 'fresh meat.' She isn't my real mum, obviously, but as payment for saving my life and teaching me how to actually fight, she 'requested' I refer to her as 'mum or 'mother', whichever I was more comfortable with. Honestly I think she's just using me as means to get over the fact that she doesn't have any children of her own. But I didn't complain, seeing as I didn't have a mother myself... and it wouldn't have been very wise to say that to her face at the time.

Deciding to just go with it, I jump of the cliff and land, somewhat, gracefully, on the grassy floor. The clearing is silent, as usual. No one ever really tries to get close to mother's territory and if I remember mother's (short and one-sided) fight with the houndoom correctly, I can understand why. Suppressing a shudder, I stealthily make my way to the nearby stream, checking my reflection as I take a drink. Red eyes peer back at me, along with yellow furred body, black fore limbs and a extra set of massive black jaws sticking of the back of my skull. Mum says I'm a mawile, but I've never seen another.

Expanding my senses, I listen for mother's light breaths to ensure she's still asleep, give the area one last check and begin moving into the forest. I heard from some of the pokemon (before mother killed them for food) that the fields are divided into regions. 'I wonder if I can find another one before I'm caught' I muse to myself as I enter the forest, just as some pokemon begin emerging from their nests and burrows.

From the darkness of the cave, a white figure watches as the mawile cautiously walks into a forest. With a sigh, it flops back down unto its belly and mutters "children" in a decidedly feminine voice. She doesn't move to get her daughter for two reasons. One, very few pokemon would actually try to hurt her and very few pokemon actually _could._ She made sure of that personally through training and more than a little intimidation. The second reason is that the kid's supposed to be getting a trainer today. She never really got over her dislike for any and all forms containment, so it might be a bit problematic for both parties since pokeballs are a no go.

Hopefully, she might get a reasonable trainer who wouldn't pressure her to stay in the pokeball...'Or she might just snap and kill her trainer' the figure muses with a smirk. She could only hope the brat got a decent rookie and not some snot-nosed wannabe champion. The latter tended to die very early in their careers.

* * *

The property belonging to Jaxen's family is very large. So large in fact that was commissioned by the pokemon league to serve as a preserve of sorts. It is home to several dozen species of pokemon. Jaxen is quite familiar with all of them and on good terms with more than a few. The property basically consists of a seven mile long stretch of land with forests, plains and some lakes here and there. I makes the walk to the gates a serious fucking hassle, but he reminds himself it's for the pokemon...

It doesn't always work.

' _Are you alright, Master Jaxen_ ' Gloria asks, as said person is currently on his hands and knees, heaving in air as if he's going to drown. She already knows what the problem is, but it would be more polite to ask first before using her abilities on him.' _I could simply teleport you to the gates if you would like?_ ' she offers

Jaxen takes a deep breath and jumps back to his feet. "Nope, I'm good." he replies. "I'm gonna face much harder things than this on my journey, so it'd be better to start getting used to it now." With that, he resumes walking, gloria falling into step beside him. Jaxen grins" Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just three more miles to go." he tries to sound encouraging. It didn't help much.

' _Three_ _point seven actually_ ' Gloria supplies. That didn't help much either.

Eventually, they reach the looming gates, and equally looming walls, of the compound. And once there, Jaxen finds a pleasant surprise waiting for him. An extremely beautiful woman, with waist-length auburn hair, with bangs that frames her face, brilliant cerulean eyes and a rather... appealing figure. She wears an elegant blue and white dress, and carries herself like royalty. He lunges at her.

"Mum!" he exclaims, barreling full-speed into the woman's mid-section. She doesn't even grunt, only taking a step back and laying a hand gently on her son's head. He continues to hug her and she doesn't stop him. They haven't seen in about five months after all.

' _Good day,_ _Mistress Gale_ ' Gloria greets, getting a smile and a small nod in reply. She watches them both for a few moments, before 'speaking up' again. ' _Should I remove him?_ ' she asks, eyes on the boy still clinging to his mother.' _We have a schedule to keep_ _after all._ '

Gale shakes her head.' _No need_ ' she mentally replies, before gently removing son's arms from around her torso. "Jaxen,"she begins softly "I know you are happy to see me, but I still need to get back to work. So let us finish this as quickly as possible. Alright?" Jaxen nods in reply, and steps out of the gates and enter the awaiting limo. Gale turns to the gothirita. "Please lock up the meet us there after you have made the proper provisions for food for the pokemon"The psychic-type simply teleports away, to do her assignment. Gale simply enters the vehicle, which begins moving as soon as she does so.

"So mum,"Jaxen begins, breaking the relative silence in the limo." Are you going to tell me what my starter is now?" He asks hopefully. Every rime he asks, his parents would tell him no. Maybe today would be different, since he's gonna find out anyway.

"No" Guess not.

"You will find out what we have gotten for you when we reach the lab." Gale continues. "Though,"she adds, knowing her son would cling to any chance for information he could get. She wasn't disappointed as Jaxen gave her his full attention."I can tell you that it is about four months old." Making him deflate like that was almost as amusing as doing it to his father. They are very similar in that regard.

"So what? A new born?" Jaxen asks, a bit disappointed. "I was kinda hoping for something... more." He leans back in his chair, arms crossed."I'm asking for something like an Ursaring as my starter, but you and dad are gym leaders. Couldn't you get me something me that's, I don't know... not a new born?" He pauses. "Where is dad anyway?"

Gale giggles at her son's words." Well, to answer your first question," she begins" Yes. Your father and I _could_ arrange for a truly magnificent starter for you, but it would make no difference in the long run." She pauses, looking to make sure he was paying attention. He was. "Let me ask you this, Jaxen. If you were to give a new trainer an Ursaring, and a veteran trainer an Ursaring, who would win?"

Jaxen didn't even need to ponder the question." The veteran" he replies, knowing he already lost the argument.

"Why?" his mother asks with a smile.

"Because the veteran is simply that, a veteran." He answers. "A newbie trainer will more often than not be unable to command that that Ursaring in battle to the fullest of its capabilities. While the more experienced trainer will be able maximize his Pokemon's ability to the fullest, since they have a stronger bond and have been in many more battles than the former."

His mother nods in approval."The same can be said about your want for a 'better' starter." she continues, even though she knows she doesn't have to. "You can have that excellent starter and do well in battles for the first few weeks until you are, as your father would say, curb stomped by a stronger trainer later on. Whatever you can do with a pokemon, there will usually be someone out there who can do it better. Trust me, I know." Gale follows her son's lead and leans back in her chair, although with much more refinement." So, your father and I got you something more... practical." Then she frowns. "As for your father... he probably won't make it in time to see you off, he's meeting an old friend of ours. I will be joining him later today."

"I see." Jaxen says, a little disappointed. Then he grins "Could I have another hint about my starter as compensation?" he asks hopefully.

"No."

Never hurt to be optimistic.

* * *

Okay, this is extremely weird. I've been out for about two hours and mother has yet to come get. Not only that, but most of the pokemon either ignore me or just outright avoid me. The second is not really surprising, considering who my mother is, and actually helped me get breakfast. I still had yet to find another region of the fields by the time the sun had fully risen, and I began to wonder about the truth to the rumor. In retrospect, I should have planned ahead and asked mother if she knew anything. Granted, she would have been suspicious, but it would have been better than just wondering blindly around the forest. Luckily, I could still find the cave den by scent, so I wasn't totally lost.

Just as I decide to go back however, I am met with an obstacle. A really big and ugly one. A reptilian biped, with an armored body, jet black everywhere but the plates of silver-colored armor on its head, back, elbows and armor on its head has four holes on, two on each side,with horns protruding from the two in front. Its forehead plating extends past its upper jaw in a small point. It has blue slitted eyes, and two holes on the tip of its upper jaw, presumably for breathing. On the rim of its mouth are several pointed protrusions, like fangs, and the nape of its neck and back have silver armor sections. It has wide, blunt spikes on its shoulders, gray-silver bands on its arms and leg, three claws on each hand and food and thick long armored black tail extends from its backside.

It was totally intimidating to be honest, but I wasn't gonna admit that. Unfortunately, as my mind tried to come up with a means of escape from this thing that was obviously here to eat me, if that look in its eye is anything to go by, my mouth moved on its own and uttered the first thing that came to mind.

"You're really big and ugly aren't you?"

I had to resist the urge to face palm, just I wouldn't take my eyes of the pokemon. Oddly enough, it didn't look affected by the insult, probably because it was already planning on eating me anyway. I had to wonder though, how did I not hear the foot falls of something that big coming towards me. At this point, it doesn't matter, as I only have two options available to me. Fight or run

Mother trained me to be able to fight most pokemon in the forest. This thing is clearly _not_ under the banner of _most pokemon._ So, I do the more sensible thing and bolt in the opposite direction, already trying to locate the cave d-

A massive tail slams into the ground where I was just standing, forming a spider web crack. Somehow the thing caught up to me. Now I now I'm not the fastest, but something that big shouldn't be this fast. I have no time to ponder as I attacks me again, with speed that belies it's size, though I note that I didn't hear foot falls this time either.

Left with no other option, I fight back.

As the armored pokemon prepares to attack once more, I spring forward, a move that mother taught me, and land a blow to its abdomen area. It staggers back, but more out of surprise than anything. I take full advantage and coat both my arms in electricity. Springing forward, I land an uppercut to the pokemon's armored jaw, but there was no give whatsoever and it swats me away like a fly. I hit a tree and slide to the ground. Forcing myself to my feet as its thunderous footsteps approa... I can hear its footsteps now? And why does it seem slower?

As it readies another attack, I spring forward once more and land another blow to its torso. But like with my uppercut, this time, there is no give. It's as if the thing suddenly increased in weight. Is that what happened? Maybe it can control its weight somehow. That would explain why I couldn't hear its footsteps before, and why the effectiveness of my attacks suddenly reduced. Great now it's too heavy for most of my attacks to have an effect...

Deciding to change tactics, I roll to the side just as a glowing claw impacts the ground where I was just standing. I ignore the way the very earth shatters at the impact and instead jump back to increase the distance between us. Then, I prepare to lunge. The pokemon turns to face me in time to see a coating of steel appear on my head, just before I spring forward a fast as my legs can launch me. Normally, this attack would hit with enough force to shatter bones, if the pokemon mother had me practice on were anything to go by.

This time however, I collide with the pokemon with resounding **_CLANG_** and manage to push it back about three or four feet. But other than it being slightly winded, the attack didn't do any reasonable damage. Well crap...

Jumping back from the pokemon, I watch as it tries to refill its lungs. It watches with the same hunger as it did when I first saw. The same hunger I see in mother when she goes on the hunt. I ready myself. Since I can't escape, I might as well fight. It wouldn't be nice if I dishonored my mother by simply giving up and letting the thing kill me. Speaking of her, I wonder if she's still asleep. Taking a moment to expand my sense and try to _feel_ for mother's signature. I can't find it. My eyes widen... a few second later, the other pokemon's eyes widen as well.

"It just _had_ to be an Aggron." A white furred pokemon says in a feminine voice, emerging from the forest behind me. Hope fills me. Quadruped with three black claws on each foot, a black face with a sickle-shaped horn extending from the side of the head surrounded by a mane of white hair, a black scythe-like tail, black spikes jutting out from its elbows and heels, and a feline with red white-slitted eyes.

"Daughter of mine," the absol continues "we are going to have a long talk after this" she says, glancing at the me, and I look away sheepishly, before she turns her full attention to the aggron. The thing actually looks weary. "As for you," she begins in a cold voice, slitted-eyes narrowing. "For attempting to eat my daughter," she pauses and her eyes turn cold. "you will die."

To my surprise the aggron actually turns tail and _runs_. Mother simply takes a breath, the lets loose a small fast moving ball of flame. It explodes in a fire star, but doesn't lose any speed and slams in the aggron before it can even take its third step. The steel-type cries in pain as the flames melt its armor and sear its flesh, but it manages to stay on its feet and continue running. However, I notice that its footsteps begin to get lighter as it starts to pick up speed. I consider telling mother, but quickly decide against it.

Mother never needed my help.

My point is proven when she twists her head to the side, and then lets loose a single blade of sharpened wind from her horn. The attack covers the distance between them in less than two seconds, and sinks into the exposed flesh of the aggron. Blood spurts like a geyser, and this time, it loses its footing.

Mother is not done yet ,however.

Before it falls to the ground, her horn still in the same position from the previous attack, mother prepares another. Her horn begins _humming_ with power, and glows with a red outline. With another powerful flick of her head, another wind blade, sharper and much faster than the one before it, is let loose.

Like before, this one slices into the steel-types exposed flesh. But unlike the last one, it slices through completely and burst out from the other side. The force of its exit actually setting the aggron upright again. It remains like that for a moment, before collapsing on its front with a loud crash. Blood pooling under its body as it empty eyes stare up into the sky.

Any joy I may have felt at that moment vanished when mother turned to glare at me. It was not the same glare she sent her enemies, no this one was softer. Didn't make it any less frightening though. Oh well, at least it couldn't really get any worse.

* * *

At the front door of the very same laboratory where a certain mawile was being scolded by her 'mother', a certain dual eyed newbie trainer sneezes.

"Are you alright, Jaxen?" Gale mother asks with mild concern. When he shakes his head, she returns her attention to the front doors and begins doing some things with the console on the wall beside them. As she does this, jaxen looks across the fields of the lab. It's not as big as their property, not by a long shot, but it still houses a lot of exotic pokemon.

The lab itself is somewhat intimidating at this distance. It looms over them, covering them in its shadow. It;s about three storeys, made mostly of inter-locked bricks. At each of the four corners of the building is a stone pillar and it is topped with a convex blue roof. Directly underneath the roof are glass panels, windows, that line the bottom edge of the roof. On both sides of the building are rows upon rows of solar panels, all of which provide the facility with power.

He can spot a few pidgey and starly playing in the air, some rattata and patrat having a scuffle in the fields and... "HOLY CRAP IS THAT A DRAGONITE?!" He exclaims before he can stop himself. It's not really his fault though. Dragonite are extremely rare in the wild and the known one are crazy strong. It's actually always been a dream of his catch one... or at least face one in battle...

Jaxen's train of thought is interrupted when he realizes that nearly all the pokemon around his are watching him aptly, his having cut through the relative silence of the clearing like a scyhter through butter. For a moment, all their eyes go blank, then they return back to whatever it was they were doing before. Jaxen breathes a sigh of relief, turning to the psychic-type beside him. "Thanks for the save, Gloria."

The Gothirita simply nods in reply, eyes locked on the dragonite that resisted her psychic control. They stare at each other for a moment, before the dragonite seems to lose interest or something and rises to its feet and lumbers off towards the labs lake. Gloria then turns to Jaxen. ' _Remember to control your impulses whilst on your journey._ ' she scolds' _It would be most unwise to do what you just did in an untamed area, like eterna forest._ ' Jaxen laugh sheepishly at that, making a mental note to train his psychic-type to do whatever it is gloria just. If he ever catches one.

A mechanical whirring draws his attention back to the doors. His mother doesn't even wait for the doors to fully open and steps inside when they wide enough for her to enter without resistance. Jaxen follows immediately after and gloria simply teleports in.

A woman intercepts them before they get into the lab proper, still in the hallway leading to it. She wears a green top and a black thigh-length skirt, all under a white lab coat. She has green eyes, under a pair of black-rimmed glasses and an extremely dull shade of blonde hair. The woman looks at him and mutters two words "Heterochromia Iridum" Jaxen makes a mental note to find out what that means later on.

"Lucinda" his mother says calmly, but those who know her well enough would notice the impatience. "We are on a bit of a tight schedule."

The scientist woman nods, turning to Jaxen. "Hello. My name is Lucinda Ryner. Head Scientist and Researcher at the Victorica city Pokemon Laboratory." she extends a hand for him to take. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Jaxen shakes the hand offered to him with a smile."Jaxen Green. Looking finally to get my starter today."

Lucinda smiles at the boy's greeting. "Cheeky. Let's see if you're still like that after a few months." Before jaxen can say anything, she turns on her heel and walks off, into the lab. "Come on then" she calls without stopping or turning around. "Your starter awaits."

Jaxen glances at his mother who gestures for him to follow, so he does just that. ' _Good luck, my son._ ' His mother's voice echoes in his head, and turns just in time to see her and Gloria teleport away. He smiles sadly 'At least she said goodbye this time' he thinks to himself, before recomposing himself and following after the professor. It wouldn't do to freeze up now.

* * *

I patiently, but reluctantly, allow mother to carry me to the human outpost in our region of the fields, which I found actually _was_ divided into regions. She informed me that was to be given to a trainer today and I can't say I never saw this coming. It was somewhat obvious from the way was treated when I first awoke and the word of the gold-eyed man.

 _"Sleep well, kid. There's so much of the world for you to see."_

That made it pretty glaringly obvious. I just did not expect it to be so soon. I've only been alive for about four months, so I thought it would be another eight _at least_ till they called me out. Guess it wasn't to be.

Mother and I enter the outpost/infirmary, just as a pair of humans do. I immediately recognize the woman as the one from the day when I awoke and I freeze up. I turn to the male expecting to see the gold-eyed man. And for a second, I do. Though it becomes clear it is not him because of two things. One his eyes are not golden, but they _are_ dual colored. Two he doesn't have the same _feel_ as the man. Similar, but not the same. They do seem remarkably alike though. If this was going to be my trainer, I decided I would give him a chance.

I was proven correct when he walked up to me, either oblivious to or not caring about the absol holding me in her jaws. "Hi." he greets casually and I decide to test him. Raising my hands, still dangling from mother's maw, I perform some gestures of the human form of communication known as sign language. It was surprisingly easy for me to pick up and mother just passed it off as me having an extremely sharp mind

[Hello to you too] I sign in reply, and feel a sense of satisfaction when his eyes widen in comprehension. [Do you understand me?] I ask, already knowing the answer. Communication between human and pokemon is usually achieved from a bond toughened throughout the journey. This just made things much easier for both of us.

The boy nods." I do, and that's amazing." He said with a grin. "Hey, do you mind if I pick a name for you?" he asks "Or do you already have one?"

I shake my head, no, and the boy nods.

"How'bout destiny then?" he asks hopefully. "I thought about for a while and decided to go with destiny for a girl and fate for a boy. There's actually a funny story behind that." He chuckles, then pauses. "You _are_ a girl right?" he asks cautiously "I just assumed-"

I silence him with a glare and he immediately goes pale, thinking he offended me. This one was gonna be fun to mess with. I break out into a grin and he sighs in relief. [Destiny is fine ] I sign, before smirking [Gotcha by the way.] He grins with me.

"So a prankster, Huh?" he says, grin widening "This might be more fun than I'd hoped."

Mother lowers me down and walk over to my trainer. He picks me up, seems to consider me a moment, then places my arms around his shoulders. "Are you comfortable back there?" he asks, as I use his back pack as a chair. It's not that inconvenient, so I shrug. "Okay then. My name's Jaxen by the way. Jaxen Green. Let's be good to each other okay?"

I nod [Pleased to meet you, Jaxen] I sign in reply. [I hope you don't disappoint me as a trainer.] I realize that some could have taken that as an insult, but the human didn't seem to mind. Taking it as a challenge instead.

"Good to see you both getting along" the woman says and I honestly forgot she was there. Must be because she's smothering her presence. "Jaxen, I'm going to assume your father already gave you your Cross Transceiver." It wasn't a question, but he nodded any way. "Good, now pay attention. Both of you." At this point, she let some of her presence leak out and we both stiffened. Though I don't think Jaxen knew why he did.

* * *

I paid rapt attention to Professor Lucinda and whatever it was she was about to tell us. When the absol the brought in destiny in moves to stand by her side however, he becomes a bit wary.

"This is a lesson that will help you throughout your journey, so pay utmost attention." She commands, and Jaxen gulps, standing a little straighter for reasons unknown to him. "The most important thing you have to know as a novice trainer is..." Jaxen found himself listening intently to the professor's words,which means he unfortunately didn't notice the smirk that appeared on the absol's face. Destiny did however, and she didn't like it one bit. When Lucinda smirked however, Jaxen suddenly found himself hyper aware and on guard.

"... How to run."

"... Eh?"

"As such, you must always be in top form. Today, my Absol assistant will be helping with that." Jaxen warily turns to the Absol, who gives him a very toothy grin... Then it finally clicks in his head what the professor meant, and his eyes widen.

"OH SHI-!" And that was how Jaxen Green and his partner Destiny found themselves being chased by an Absol on the first day of the Journey.


	3. Chapter 2

Lucinda Ryner has always had a busy schedule. Due to her position, since childhood, she has had various responsibilities which occupy just about all her time(one of them, currently, being her position as head scientist and researcher of the Victorica city pokemon research lab), which, more often than not, results in lack of sleep. She usually hides it well enough, and only those close to her or those that work with her know about that, but it usually comes with the price of her seeming somewhat like the mad scientist type. In fact she realized a bit late that she may have made herself seem a bit more eccentric to Jaxen. Well, more eccentric that she usually is... or was that less...

Meh. It doesn't really matter.

Anyway, she's always very busy and those that know about her workload usually try to help in anyway they can. Her worker schedule all her appointments for the most convenient times and move all her meetings to days where the work is more bearable, or days when she's off work entirely. Her friends( the few she has) also help by keeping visitations to a minimum. Their combined efforts were able to enable her get five hours of sleep every week. Seven if she gets done quickly enough. It's actually much better than it seems. Before, her workload was more along the lines of 'I wanna commit suicide.' So it's a definite improvement.

In fact that meeting with Jaxen was only agreed to because his father agreed to get some of his people to help her out a bit. That should _at least_ allow her to get maybe ten, twelve hours of sleep that week. Thinking to her short interactions with the boy, she can't help but smile. It was nice, since she doesn't really get to socialize much while at work( which is basically her whole year) and it's been a _long_ time since she pulled a prank on someone. Though she can't seem to remember why she stopped. You know, besides work.

The professor actually considered opening her doors to all the children looking to get their first pokemon, since she actually _is_ qualified to do so. Then she remembered it would mean _more_ work, and the idea was scrapped about three seconds after its conception.

Her workload isn't even large because of her duties in the lab. No, it's because she's practically the Mayor and President on top of that. The reason for that is because the actual president was a prick who abandoned office to travel the world. No one has seen him for the past six years. As such, the role fell to her, because she was the most qualified. She's always been the mayor of Victorica city, the largest and most economically relevant city in her region, Eynis.

It's a small region, south of Unova, that's also an up and coming power in the scientific world. But that's a story for a different day. The place nearly sank when the president abandoned ship and only managed to avoid falling apart by the combined efforts of her and her friends( all indigenous). Of course, she was the only one who was both qualified and free enough to _continue_ holding up the region. The first few months where they worked out a suitable schedule, were hell on earth and she actually attempted suicide just so she could take a break from it all...

It's actually a bit embarrassing in retrospect.

The point is, she is a _very_ busy woman, with **_very_** little free time. Which is why she was surprised when her secretary told her that she had a visitor. Then she was more surprised when she found out who it was.

"You better have damn good reason for messing up my schedule. Again." she gripes to the man who enters her office. He wears a white dress shirt with a black tie, black pants and a black suit slung over his shoulder. He has spiky black hair and silver eyes that seem to be full of mirth. The last part pisses her off most of the time. Overall, he looks like an older version of the boy who was in her lab some hours ago.

Not surprising, since this is his father.

"Indeed I do" Coen Green replies, all business. He calmly walks over to one of the chairs in front of her desk, the ones provided for guests, and takes a stare at each other for a moment... Then they both smile. "So, how's work been treating you?" he asks conversationally.

Lucinda returns his smile. "Still shitty, just like always." They both laugh at that. "So, I'm guessing you're here with my relief." It was more of a statement than a question, since she already knows the answer. There's no possible reason for a man like Coen Green to simply _drop in_ to her office. He answers anyway.

"Yes, they're working as we speak." He says, then grins. "In fact, if I'm correct, which I usually am, then you should be able to take a well deserved three hour break today." He informs the professor, who was already on her feet the moment she heard the words'you', 'able to' and 'break' come out of his mouth.

With a relieved sigh, the woman stretches her back, a satisfying series of _pops_ sounding out from her spine. "Good to finally have a break" she says, walking over the cabinet where she keeps her... relief materials. She opens it, revealing a well stocked supply of 'fine wine', before turning to her guest. "Would you like a glass as well?" she offers.

"Yes, thank you" Comes coen's reply, and Lucinda pulls out two wine glasses. "By the way," he begins, a smirk making its way to his face. Not that his hostess can see it, with her back to him and all. "I actually planned to talk to you about something during your break." he says and Lucinda chuckles, pulling out two wine glasses.

"I'd have actually been surprised if the CEO of Atlantech Industries came to see me without an ulterior motive" she says jokingly, uncorking the bottle and beginning to pour the contents into one of the glasses. Coen chuckles.

"It _is_ quite the motive." He concedes

"So, what is it?" Lucinda asks, beginning to pour into the second glass.

"Compensation."

She stops, turning to look at her companion with narrowed eyes.

"... Compensation for what?" she asks suspiciously.

Coen smirks.

"Chasing my son out of your office with an Absol."

"... Crap."

Now she remembers why she stopped pranking people.

* * *

Jaxen Green has never been so glad he learned sign language. His parent practically forced him to learn, saying that it would be extremely beneficial to him as a trainer. He never took the seriously, but learned it anyway. Now, he is nothing if not grateful.

Once it became obvious that the Absol wasn't really trying(when it didn't catch them after the first twenty seconds), Jaxen and his new pokemon boarded a cab and began their trip to the Victorica city international airport. Where he will travel to Unova, the first step to his dream of seeing the world.

Unfortunately(or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), he was unable to think too much into the prospects of finally setting out to fulfill his life long dream. The reason? Destiny's innocent, but somewhat annoying, barrage of questions. It's actually understandable, since she lived most of her life in a lab (a sheltered life, some might say), but she began drilling him on questions on just about everything they've come across, once they started began to come across things. Even abandoning her perch on his shoulders, when they reached the airport, just so she could explore and come back with _more_ questions.

It started simple, with questions like _[What is that construct those humans are eating in?]_ or _[What is that thing in that sky? It looks like a Skiploom, but it is far larger, and much too loud]_ or _[Why would I possibly allow myself to_ willingly _enter this yellow construct? How can I be confident it will not eat me?]_ Luckily for him she was able to figure out most other domestic things herself, what with the appropriately detailed answers he's been giving her. _Un_ luckily for him, that only left the _un_ domestic things for her to ask questions on. The stranger, more weird things of society you could come across. Things like...

[Why is that woman wearing a basket of berries on her head?] she signs in question, before adding [And why are the pokemon not swarming her?]

Jaxen sighs, before looking over to where his starter is pointing. Indeed, he spots a woman wearing a berry hat, lined with various berries as the name implies, standing not too far in front of him on the line to the boarding gate. "Some people consider wearing fruit baskets on their heads a fashion." Jaxen replies finally, with a shrug. "I don't really get it myself, but I won't claim to understand women... or modern day fashion"

[I suggest you begin trying to understand _me_ then.] Destiny signs. She couldn't actually vocalize the stressed part, but the look she sends his way is enough to get the point through. Jaxen chuckles sheepishly. [It would be very bad for our team dynamic if you do not.]

"Anyway," He begins, trying to change the subject. "I don't really know why the pokemon aren't trying to steal any." He admits. Under normal circumstances,would say that the berries were fake. But if the way that pansear seated on that guy's shoulder up ahead keeps staring at the woman's head is anything to go by, they are not.

Pansear, Pansage and Panpour all have incredible sense of smell and an odd knack for finding berries in places where very few others can. Though pansear, unlike pansage, are known for their stinginess when it comes to berries. So, if that pansear keeps staring at the berries in that hat like an all you can eat buffet, then they are likely one-hundred percent real.

He then notices said pansage getting antsy. 'Looks like its gonna make a move for'em' he thinks. Destiny seems to notice as well, and they both silently decide to watch and see what happens.

Then, the pansear leaps, ignoring the surprised yelp of its trainer. It glides towards the fruit basket, mouth wide and arms spread out. An arm suddenly bursts out of the woman's shadow, and the two of them, along with just about everyone behind the woman, watch with wide-eyes as it effortlessly snatches the fire monkey out of the air. The arm then tosses the pokemon back to its trainer who catches it with a sheepish expression. He begins vehemently apologizing to the woman, who tries to tell him it's no problem, but to no avail.

Jaxen just about manages to recompose himself, when he notices two blood red eyes appear in the woman's shadow. A blob then begins emerging from said shadow and soon a pokemon is floating by the woman's side. A purple bipedal pokemon with red eyes and a large grin on its face. It has a somewhat round body, with multiple spikes covering its back, large pointed ears, stubby arms and legs are short with three digits on both its hands and feet and a stubby tail. The temperature also seems to drop a bit, once it makes its appearance.

Jaxen decides to just ignore whatever happens between the woman and the trainers, even as the Gengar begins 'playing' with the pansear. He and all the others behind him, bypass the two and make their way to the boarding gate.

After boarding the plane( turns out they allow smaller pokemon on board, again, provided you can keep them in check), Jaxen locates his seat( by the window) and then places his back pack under the seats. He sets destiny on the floor, sits down, straps in, lifts the mawile onto his laps and pulls out a book. "You can read right?" Jaxen asks, then regrets it, as his starter seems to be insulted by the question. "What? It was an innocent question." He adds, before gawking as destiny flips him the bird.

[That was a indirect insult on my intelligence and you know it.] she signs in high speed, Jaxen barely able to read what she says. Before he can reply and try to calm her down however, a feminine voice interrupts them.

"Interesting, your pokemon knows sign language." the person says and both of them whip their heads to look at her in surprise. Before them is a girl with light blue hair and eyes, with an emotionless expression.

To his credit, Jaxen was able to contain his surprise, in favor of staring at the girl's rare hair color. He knew a few people with odd hair colors, but this was his first time seeing blue. Destiny on the other hand, did _not_ have the luxury of noticing the girls hair, being face to face with her. That fact didn't help matters much either, as the girl, a stranger no less, was suddenly invading her personal space. So, her instincts kicked in and she reacted reflexively in the way any pokemon who suddenly found their personal space being invaded would. She punched the intruder in the face.

 ** _CRACK_**

And possibly broke her nose.

* * *

Silence...

Lucinda stares at Coen.

Coen stares at Lucinda.

"... I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly." Lucinda says, with narrowed eyes. "You want me to _what._ "

"I can understand your reaction," Coen admits "but you must understand, this is for the continuity of the project. You know what Destiny is, you took part in altering her." he explains "And you also know about those who seek to destroy her. When they find out about my son, and they no doubt will, he, his team and all the friends he will make throughout his journey, will become their targets. They need all the help they can get."

"Then you watch them." Lucinda replies "Arceus knows that sister of yours _alone_ is enough to take care of anyone who is foolish enough to target her nephew, so why don't you just ask her."

"Aspen would never agree to that and you know it." Coen retorts "She does not want to interfere with his journey, she wants him to choose his own path, make his own decisions and learn from his own mistakes."

Lucinda raises an eyebrow." And you don't?" she asks.

"Of course I do." he answers immediately. "But I also know that if we let him do it that way, then the likelihood of him being ready by the time our enemies may decide to strike is reduced." He then looks her in the eyes. "I'm not asking you to step in every time he stubs his toe, just give him some extra protection. I don't want my son to die."

The two stare at each other in silence for a moment, before the professor speaks. "No." she says without hesitation. "I understand what you are saying, and I know Destiny doesn't need to form a strong bond before Mega Evolution is possible for her, but that does not condone giving your son a her Mega Stone. The first week of his journey has barely begun, yet you want to have a Mega on his team?! It completely defeats the purpose of him setting out in the first place!" she then pauses, trying to calm her nerves, before speaking again. " Look, I know you want to protect him, but there are far better ways. All of us got to where we are today through our will to survive, not by being babied into complacency. This will not help your son in any way. Not to mention it will incur your sister's wrath."

Coen stares at her for a good long while, before sighing in defeat. "You're right." he concedes "giving him a Mega Stone would be a bad idea. He is not ready for that kind of power yet. Neither of them are"

"But...?" Lucinda chimes already knowing what he is going to say.

"But, I'm not dropping the matter." he says "At the very least, watch him, monitor his progress, and give him the stone when you think he is ready. Is that acceptable?"

The professor nods. "That I can do." she replies, before her expression softens. "Jaxen will be fine, he is your son after all." she says softly, before frowning "Not to mention that monster's nephew."

Coen chuckles." I don't understand why you don't like Aspen." he pauses"Hmm. Maybe I should arrange a get together for you two." He jokes with a smile, before laughing outright at the incredulous look the woman sends him. "... Thanks though." he says after recomposing himself. "I know I can trust you with this. And, I owe you one."

"Actually, you owe me thirty-nine" the professor replies. "This one makes forty, but who's counting." Coen just stares a the woman with a slack jawed expression, which she ignores and raises her half-empty glass of wine to toast.

Coen smiles raising his as well and they clink them together in a toast.

"To your son's relatively safe journey." Lucinda says, then begins drinking. Coen smirks.

"I'm still gonna get you back for that prank though." Predictably, she sputters and her companion laughs.

Then a stapler his him dead center in the forehead and he sent crashing to the ground.

* * *

Jaxen and Destiny find themselves in an uncomfortable position. After Destiny punched the girl in the face, she fell flat on her back, unconscious. This was the scene another, older bluenette walked in on. Of course seeing her relative(sister if the strong resemblance is anything to go by) knocked out on the floor with what looks suspiciously like a broken nose and a mawile with with its fist outstretched not too far away didn't help much. So, seeing the situation about to go downhill, Jaxen tries to talk the girl down.

She kicked him in the balls and he went down like a sack of geodude.

Then Destiny launched herself at the girl with an Iron head, as her trainer falls to the ground massaging his crotch, but the girl nimbly moved out of the way and released a large grey bipedal rhino-like Pokemon, with a drill for horn. Luckily, before the whole thing could dissolve into a battle, airport security stepped in and put both pokemon to sleep, with Hypnosis from an Alakazam for destiny and Sleep Powder for from a Whimsicott for the Rhydon. All this happens while Jaxen whines on the ground, next to the unconscious bluenette.

Security then proceeded to carry(drag) both them and their pokemon off the plane. Thus enabling both parties to miss their flight. The younger bluenette wakes up when her head hits the tarmac, just in time to stop her relative(sister most likely) from maiming and or killing Jaxen. After the younger bluenette, Ophelia, finishes explaining what happened to her sister (now confirmed) the elder bluenette, Catherine, proceeds to smack her upside the head. After which, she then bows to Jaxen in apology.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I and my sister have caused you!"

Jaxen shifts uncomfortably, before looking around. "Um, you don't have to apologize." he says "But can we continue this discussion _inside_?" he asks hopefully, not really comfortable with being on an open Airline runway. So they took their pokemon and Ophelia to the airport clinic for treatment. Turns out battles in the airport building aren't all that uncommon.

Of course the went and apologized to him again promising to find a way to make up for causing him to miss his flight, while Jaxen tries to tell her that he is actually the one at fault for not stopping Destiny on time. It soon degraded into a fierce argument, which, needless to say, drew a lot of unwanted attention to them. Meanwhile, Destiny and Ophelia hit it off. After getting over the whole accidental punch in the face and broken nose thing they began to talk. About what? He doesn't know. They were both using sign language and Jaxen was too busy at the time to try and translate.

"Why don't you guys try to find another available flight, so we can get on with our respective trips." Ophelia points out, stopping their argument short. They then found and booked tickets for another flight that was scheduled to leave within the hour, but would get them to Unova by around five p.m. They also used it as a way to settle their argument by splitting the bill.

After that they got lunch and began talking about random things. Jaxen found out that they're both gym leader kids and they both specialize. Catherine in rock-types and Ophelia in Ice-types. He also found out they've been trainers for much longer than he has, even though Ophelia is his age and Catherine is only three years older. They both started early, both out of impatience and their father's pestering.

"So why'd you come back then?" Jaxen asks, wondering why to travelling trainers would suddenly drop everything and return to their home town. From what they told him Catherine was in Hoen and Ophelia was in Kanto before they came back. Both of those places are quite far from Eynis.

"Just came to visit our Dad. It was his birthday a couple of days ago and we came to celebrate." Catherine reply, as Destiny and Ophelia continue to 'talk' occasionally giggling at something the other signs. "We're originally from Kalos though, but our Dad likes to celebrate everything here,'cause this is where all his friends are." she takes a sip from her soda. "So, what about you?" she asks.

Jaxen shrugs "Nothing much, just set out today. Destiny over there's my starter." he gestures to the mawile, who looks at him when he calls her name. "I don't really plan on actively partaking in any Gym circuit, instead I want to travel the world."

"A traveler, huh?" Catherine asks."You're gonna need a strong and diverse team for something like that."she adds looking him up and down. "Had your first battle yet?" she asks and he shakes his head. "How'bout you have it with me?" she follows and jaxen blinks in surprise.

"... Are you sure?" he asks incredulously. "You've been a trainer longer than I have, your pokemon than I have."

"I know, and I don't expect you to win." she admits. "I just want to check something out, okay?" she asks. Destiny and Ophelia stop their conversation and begin listening in. Jaxen considers the idea for a while before finally answering.

"... Fine."

He soon finds himself standing opposite Catherine on the pokemon battle field provided by a park not too far from the airport. Standing by her trainer's legs, Destiny performs some stretches to prepare herself for the coming battle. It's her first time battling with her trainer and she can't help but feel a bit giddy. This should prove to be interesting.

On a bench by the sidelines, Ophelia sits, reading a book. It was Catherine that challenged Jaxen, not her. So, until something interesting happens, she has a six-hundred pager to finish.

"You ready over there, Jaxen?" Catherine asks, tossing a pokeball up and down in her hands.

"No" he mutters and Destiny elbows him in the shin

"What was that?!" Catherine asks, not having heard him.

Jaxen sighs. "As ready as I'll ever be." he says, before looking down at his starter. "If you would, your highness." he says teasingly, only gawk when she flips him the bird, with a wink. Destiny walks onto the field and Catherine catches pokeball in her hand as it descends, then throws it forward. The ball explodes open, releasing a stream of light. The stream hits the ground and a familiar Rhydon materializes from the light.

"Let's show'em a good battle, Rampede." Catherine calls to the Rhydon who roars in reply. She then looks to her sister. "Ophy, if you would." The girl sighs, before setting her book to the side and standing up. She raises her hand into the air.

"... Begin!" she calls, swiping her hand down and both pokemon charge.

"Destiny! Iron Head!" Jaxen calls, taking the first move. Destiny launches herself at the Rhydon, forehead coated in steel.

"Hammer Arm!" Catherine calls, and Rampede stops his charge. Its arm then begins to glow white and it swats destiny away. "Follow up with Stone Edge!" The Rhydon stomps the ground and small sharp stones burst from the earth, before flying at Destiny.

"Iron Defense!" Jaxen calls. Destiny still in mid-air, crosses her arms in a block and her body seems to become coated with steel. The rocks shatter against her armor, doing minor damage, but still send her crashing to the ground. She skids across the field, before flipping onto her feet, only to find the Rhydon already charging at her. "Ice Punch!" her trainer calls and she springs forward, and Destiny springs forward, a swirling blue energy surrounding her fist as she cocks it back.

Catherine smirks. "So that's how you wanna play it. All right, Rampede, Mega Horn!" The Rhydon continues his charge, but drops to all fours. Its horn glows green before suddenly doubling in length. The two meet mid-way and Destiny side steps her opponent thrust at the last second, before unloading her punch on the Rhydon's right eye.

Rampede recoils, roaring in pain as it covers its now frozen eye. But neither Destiny nor Jaxen are prepared to give it any breathing room. "Iron Head!" The Rhydon's pained roars are abruptly cut off as Destiny lands a headbutt to its abdomen, with her forehead coated in steel. "Don't stop! Follow up with another Ice Punch!" Destiny cocks her fist back, blue energy swirling around it.

"Rampede, Move!" Catherine calls and the Rhydon manages to jump back, out of range of Destiny's punch. "Bulldoze!" It stomps, sending shock waves through the ground, crashing towards Destiny. But the move is just a ploy to get her in position for a follow-up.

"Jump!" Destiny does as commanded and Catherine sees her opening.

'Chance!' she thinks. "Rampede, Mega Horn!" the Rhydon lurches forward, horn increasing in length as it glows green, but Jaxen and Destiny were prepared for this. When Jaxen told her to jump, she did so with a spin, thus placing her second jaws in front of her opponent face. Just the right position for their counter.

"Sweet Scent!" Jaxen calls and a burst of glittery purple powder is released from her maw and into the Rhydon's face. It hesitates as the sweet smelling powder invades it's senses, giving Destiny her opening for a follow up. "Thunder Punch!" Jaxen calls and Catherine's eyes widen when one of the Mawile's arms becomes coated in electricity and it punches at her Rhydon's head, with the purple powder still floating around.

The effect is instantaneous.

The electricity in the Thunder Punch ignites the powder and Rampede's head is engulfed in an explosion. Destiny doesn't get out unscathed though. Not only did the force of the explosion blow her away, but being the original cause of the explosion, her left arm is covered in nasty(but rapidly healing) burns. She manages to land somewhat gracefully, and watches the cloud of smoke obscuring her opponent's upper body with keen eyes. Jaxen also watching the smoke cloud, though not as intently as his partner. Which is why he was able to hear Catherine's sigh.

"You just had to go do that didn't you?" she asks rhetorically, as Rampede staggers out of the smoke. Scorch marks all over the armor on its face and even some exposed flesh. It glares down at Destiny with mismatched eyes. One red from the blood that got into its eye after the explosion and the other purplish-ish from the combined effects of the explosion and the Ice Punch. Blood streams out from the side of the red eye and the other seems permanently frozen in place. Jaxen isn't worried though. There's barely anything that modern medicine can't heal and two heavily damaged eyes are not among those.

He is drawn from his musings when Catherine speaks again. "Things are starting to get interesting. Rampede you still good to go?" the Rhydon releases a roar that makes the previous one pale in comparison. "Good." Catherine nods, before smirking. "Rock Slide." The Rhydon raises both arms into the air, them seems to grip something, before suddenly yanking its arms down. Boulders begin to fall out from ripples in the air,but Destiny was already moving once her opponent's trainer called the attack. She manages to dodge all of the rocks, but her opponent uses the opportunity to close the distance between them, with speed it did not posses before.

"Ice Punch!" Jaxen calls, managing to warn Destiny in time. She whirls around and throws a punch, blue energy swirling around her fist. However, the Rhydon's body seems to shine for a moment, before it dodges her punch and gets behind her in a single leap. Jaxen's eyes widen in realization. 'Dammit,Rock Polish!'

"Hammer Arm!" Catherine calls, once her pokemon gets behind its target. However, she forgot one crucial thing. Never attack a Mawile from behind _._

 _ **CRUNCH!**_

Her eyes widen, when Destiny's gaping maw clamps down on Rampede's arm with a sickening crunch. The Rhydon swings its arms as another roar of pain escapes its jaws. Although Destiny could still hold on, she decides to let go, in favor of a follow up. She flips over in mid-air and lands gracefully, before springing forward, as the Rhydon cradles the damaged hand close to its chest. She cocks her fist back, and both Catherine and Rampede expecting another punch, prepare a counter.

"Iron Tail!" The Rhydon sweeps the ground, causing Destiny to cancel her punch, as she jumps to get out of the way. But the punch was a feint and she instead lands an Iron Head to her opponents lower jaw. Landing as he staggers back with a grunt, Jaxen and Destiny move in sync to prepare another attack.

"Ice Punch!" Jaxen calls as Destiny springs forward, blue energy spinning around her fist as a stream of mist trails behind her.

"Mega Horn!" Catherine calls and the Rhydon lunges horn glowing green and doubling in length.

Neither moves to evade the others attack, so they clash and both of them are sent skidding back. Rampede rises to his full height, just in time to see Destiny rushing at him again. Catherine decides enough is enough. "Rampede!" she calls as the Rhydon rears its head back, a ball of purple energy forming within its jaws. "Hyper Beam!" A dark purple beam of energy is launched at the mawile, who launches herself into the beam head first.

"Iron Head!" Jaxen calls and steel coats Destiny's forehead as she meets the Hyper Beam head on! The two attacks clash and the Hyper Beam explodes on contact, blowing up dust and sand from the field. Jaxen, Catherine and all those watching are forced to shield their eyes until the wind dies down.

Jaxen is the first to open his eyes. He blink a few times to clear the debris in his eyes, before looking around the field. He and everyone else watch as the last of the dust screen clears away, revealing a heavily damaged and panting Rhydon one knee, with an unconscious Mawile lying face up on the other side of the field.

He sighs in defeat, walking onto the field to pick up Destiny, as Catherine recalls Rampede. He is stopped, however, by the sound of applause. He looks towards Ophelia, to see not only her, but a large of other trainers, pokemon and park goers, who stopped to watch their battle. Looks like they acquired quite the audience. He blushes, chuckling sheepishly and offering a half-hearted wave, before continuing towards Destiny.

After picking her up, he turns back, to head back to to the pokemon center in the airport, only to freeze at all the gazes and cheers being sent his way. He could never handle large crowds of people. He suddenly feels someone take his hand and turns to see Catherine smiling down at him(he just realized she's taller than him). "Let's give them a bow shall we?" she says and after a moment, Jaxen nods. With smiles, they both turn back to the gathered crowd and, with held hands, offer a bow to the gathered people and Jaxen can't help but think this is nice.

Unfortunately, Jaxen realizes,the bow only seems to make the crowd cheer _more_. This does absolutely nothing to help his stage fright and he finds himself rooted to the spot. Catherine ended up having to carry him when he eventually lost consciousness. The girl is surprisingly strong.

When he next wakes up, he is seated by the window, in the flight set for Castelia city, Unova. To his right, he sees Ophelia seated in the middle and Catherine seated at the end. The former looks up from her book and nods, while the latter snores lightly from her seat. Looking down, he sees Destiny, fully healed and seated on his lap, asleep as well, with her inactive maw serving as a full body pillow.

He wonders how long he was out for and considers asking Ophelia, but quickly decides against it. She looks to be extremely engrossed in her book. Deciding to check with either Catherine or Destiny later, Jaxen sits back and enjoys the flight. Soon, he will be taking the official first steps to start of his journey as he makes his way from Castelia city to Nacrene city. His first obstacle being the infamous labyrinth that is Pinwheel forest. A grin comes to his face as he closes his eyes.

'I can't wait.'


End file.
